A plurality of circular plug connectors in various configurations is known in the art. Known circular plug connectors include a plug element configured as an insulating body with contact elements supported therein for connecting strand conductors, wherein the plug element includes a cable connecting side and a plug side. When using shielded cables for signal transmission the insulating body is often enveloped by a shielding sleeve, in particular for plug connector housings that are not made from metal, wherein a shielding mesh of the cable is connectable with the shielding sleeve in order to conduct the shielding potential to an opposite plug. A circular plug connector unit of this type that is formed by the insulating body and by the shielding sleeve can for example be arranged in a circular plug connector that is provided for connecting signal conductors or for connecting power and signal conductors.
Is furthermore known to produce plug connectors as straight or angled plug connectors, wherein opposite plug connectors with identically arranged opposite contacts and an opposite shielding sleeves are respectively associated with the plug connectors. For the plug connector and the opposite plug connector typically different insulating bodies and different shielding sleeves are used which makes their production more expensive and increases inventory for these components.
Relevant art can be found in the printed documents EP 1 274 154 A2 and DE 10 2011 056 798 A1.
The printed document EP 1 274 154 A2 discloses a plug connector that is shielded with a shielding sleeve which includes a male connector element with a male plug contact and a female connector element with a female plug contact which are associated with one another, wherein the plug side end of the shielding sleeve includes two sleeve segments and thus an even number of axially extending sleeve segments that are separated from one another through longitudinal slots. One of the two sleeve segments adjoins a face of a body of the shielding sleeve without a radial offset, wherein the other sleeve segment has a radial offset from the first sleeve segment and the body of the shielding sleeve. The two plug connector elements are insertable into one another on the plug side with a rotational offset of 180°, wherein the sleeve segment with the radial offset reaches over the sleeve segment without the radial offset at its outer circumference. Thus, the shielding sleeves of the two connector elements are arranged relative to each other so that their center axes have a lateral offset from one another when the two shielding sleeves are identically configured and plugged into one another with a rotational offset. In order to compensate this offset at least the plug portions of the male and/or female plug contact are eccentrically arranged in the insulating bodies that are concentrically received in the shielding sleeves.
The printed document DE 10 2011 056 798 A1 teaches an electrical plug connector with an insulating housing into which a free end of a cable is inserted, including a first electrically conductive spring element which is arranged at a first portion of the free end of the cable, where the jacket is stripped, on the shielding enveloping the strands of the cable, including plural contact elements which are connected with the strands of the cable and including a shielding sleeve which envelops the first spring element, wherein the shielding sleeve is attached at the jacket of the cable in front and behind the first spring element. In the portion of the free end the shielding sleeve which is configured at the plug side end with a plurality of axially extending sleeve segments that are separated by longitudinal slots, includes engagement devices for attaching the plug connector at a wall, wherein the engagement devices are provided in the form of plural interlocking hooks that are configured in an annular manner at the face of the shielding sleeve. The plug connector can be connected in a contacting manner with an opposite plug that is arranged at a wall and which is advantageously arranged on a circuit board, wherein the engagement devices interlock behind the wall for attaching the plug connector at the opposite plug. The plug connector and the opposite plug are configured differently at least with reference to the shielding sleeve. The engagement devices configured at the sleeve segments of the shielding sleeve of the plug connector prevent that the same shielding sleeve can also be used for the opposite plug.